Sporting values and the Olympic ideal
The values are apodictic, that is to say that they are not demonstrable and as summarized by Jan W. Van Deth and Elinor Scarbrough, three characteristics can be retained : the values cannot be observed directly, they involve moral considerations and they are conceptions of the desirable [19] . Questionnaire studies are the most appropriate to identify the evolution of these values. In Europe, we have a series of surveys measuring the relationship between citizens and the practice of sport like the Eurobarometer published in November 2003 , a few months before the launch of the Olympic Games in Athens.[20] . One of the first findings of this survey was the fact that Northern Europeans practice sport more regularly than those from the South : they are 70% in Finland and Sweden, 53% in Denmark, 47% in Ireland and 43% in the -Low to exercise at least once a week against 32% in France and Spain. In Greece and Portugal, 75% and 70% of respondents respectively do not play sports. The study revealed that a majority of respondents engaged in sport without supervision. In terms of values associated with the practice of sport, more than eight out of ten respondents think that the dialogue between different cultures has a fundamental dimension (93% of respondents in Greece, 90% in Portugal and 89% in Ireland). For 59% of European respondents, sport makes it possible to fight against all forms of discrimination. In terms of concerns, doping comes first with 74% of responses : overeating and over training are not considered the most sensitive risks. From the point of view of the link between sport and education, 80% of citizens believe that there should be better cooperation between the education system and sports organizations in their country. We know that the Olympic movement militates in favor of the dissemination of sports practices and better education through sport. In 2004, the Union European and uropean has Vait launched the European Year of Education through Sport. Many sports federations have joined in this initiative with, among others, the European Olympic committees. [21] . The Olympic Games have a particular influence on membership in sports organizations, since each event is accompanied by a larger wave of membership in certain sports disciplines. The Olympic spectacle then becomes a way of promoting certain practices little known to the general public. In France, official studies by the Ministry of Youth and Sports have revealed a considerable increase in the number of licensees from Olympic federations, going from 949 federations to 7,330 between 1949 and 2003[22] . There is no doubt about the Olympic effect on the practice of sport, although at the same time the number of license holders from other federations has also increased.
The surveys carried out by World Values Survey[23] are random surveys carried out under the same conditions in more than 80 countries around the world ; the interview with respondents is relatively long and provides information on their values, aspirations and socio-economic reality. D ata s aggregated ynthétisant answers delivered in four waves of surveys to determine the attitude of the citizens of the countries concerned vis-à-vis the great debates of society. There are t clear that respondents are adults, c e q ui mean we possed ons no data mo ndiales on the values of children and adolescents [24] . When asked about belonging to a sports organization, the response rate among the 267,870 people interviewed was 51.2%. The question asked is interesting in the sense that it links sports activity to cultural and leisure activities. If we take the case of industrialized countries , we notice that 34.4 % of American respondents [25] and 19.2% of Canadians claim to be members of a sports organization against 16.4 % of French and 25.8% of German respondents. In Japan, only 8.6% of respondents claimed to be members of such an organization compared to 24.6% in South Korea (respondents surveyed in 2001) . The countries leading the way in terms of the declaration of respondents claiming to be in a sporting activity remain the countries of Northern Europe with Norway (32.8%) [26] , Sweden (36.1%) , Denmark (33%) and Iceland (34.1%) . For Latin American countries, only 7.7% of Argentinian respondents questioned in 1999 declared belonging to a sports organization. [27] against 10% in Mexico (survey carried out in 2000). Among the results obtained, Turkey's score is close to zero and that of China is close to 3%. It should not be concluded that the declaration of membership of a sports organization is correlated with the economic level of the country concerned. Among the 1002 Ugandan respondents surveyed in 2001 , 25.2% are members of a sports organization and among the Tanzanian respondents surveyed in the same year, they are 29.2%. The strong local integration and the presence of various places of sociability have a direct influence on membership in a sports organization. There is a high membership rate in Bangladesh, where more than 25% of the 1,500 respondents questioned in 2002 declared themselves to be part of a sports organization. However, the higher the social affiliation, the more membership in a sports organization in Bangladesh : the gap is not so much between the upper bourgeoisie and the middle class as between the middle class and the popular classes. In these countries, which are not among the most successful Olympic nations, the practice of sport as a leisure activity is a value supported by very united local social networks. In fact, the concept of social capital [28] should be introduced to understand the relationship between an associative dynamic and the practice of sport. Participation in a sports and cultural association is one of the aspects showing the degree of commitment of individuals within the communities in which they live.
A question was asked about the type of membership in the sports organization (with a distinction between inactive and active members). The response rate to this question was around 28.2% and the surveys were carried out at various times. The answers make it possible to identify the countries where the regular practice of sport is shared by a majority of the population. We find the same trends for northern European countries like Sweden with 34% of respondents being active members of a sports organization and the United States (24% of respondents). If we look at the gender of respondents who regularly practice a sport through an association , we notice that there are twice as many men (25%) claiming it as women (12%). In addition to the classic arguments of the position of men within the family home, it is above all the unavailability of women, whatever the level of development of society, which explains this weaker practice. The urban environment also seems to be more conducive to the practice of leisure sports, but we note that this activity is lower in small towns and also in large towns with more than 500,000 inhabitants (13% of responses in this direction in both cases). The urban environment most favorable to the development of sports practice is that of municipalities between 10,000 and 25,000 inhabitants (18% of responses). Thus the fact that in this environment, the inhabitants do not all know each other favors the practice of sport as a place of socialization and relaxation. At the same time, the stressful rhythm of urban life imposes the need for sport as a source of balance.
This argument easily explains the development of statistical surveys in large cities allowing local authorities to adjust the development of sports policies. For example, the city of Berlin carried out a survey in 2007 on sport in urban areas among 30,000 inhabitants : 72% of those questioned claimed to have a sporting activity. The top three activities leading the way are cycling, swimming and jogging. The places favored by Berliners for exercising a sporting activity remain parks and natural spaces [29] : 39.5% of them say they regularly attend sporting events. In England, a survey ( General Household Survey ) has been carried out regularly since 1987 among English households on physical activity (and not the practice within a sports association) : it turns out that 59% of adults (panel of 14 800 citizens) who participated in the survey in 2002 [30] claimed to have had physical activity in the four weeks before the interview. The favorite practices in this case were walking, swimming and cycling. These two examples show to what extent physical activity has become essential for the urban lifestyle that has become sedentary : these surveys were carried out because the encouragement of sporting activity has become a public policy. This encouragement involves both the creation of infrastructures and the organization of sporting events stimulating this activity. The presentation of the candidacy of a city at the reception and the organization of the Olympic Games involves having previously a sports policy and development policy in citing the physical mobility of urban dwellers.
It can be confirmed that membership in a sports organization remains quite low at the global level, with marked variations between countries. This does not mean that physical activity is just as low , because we have to carefully distinguish between membership in a sports organization and regularly participating in a sports activity. It is by analyzing the general profile of these respondents that we were able to measure a relative transformation in the attitude of respondents towards sports activities. Sport is conceived more as a source of personal development and healthy physical expenditure : the survey showed that between 1980 and 2004, there was a progression of so-called post-materialist values not centered on the concern for sustenance and material satisfaction.
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